We demonstrate that high Tc superconductors exhibit hyperbolic metamaterial behavior in the far infrared and THz frequency ranges. In the THz range the hyperbolic behavior occurs only in the normal state, while no propagating modes exist in the superconducting state. Wave equation, which describes propagation of extraordinary light inside a hyperbolic metamaterial exhibits 2+1 dimensional Lorentz symmetry. The role of time in the corresponding effective 3D Minkowski spacetime is played by the spatial coordinate aligned perpendicular to the copper oxide layers. Such superconductor-based hyperbolic metamaterials exhibit a quantum phase transition at T=0, in which the effective Minkowski spacetime arise in the mixed state of the superconductor at some critical value of external magnetic field. Nucleation of Minkowski spacetime occurs via formation of quantized Abrikosov vortices, so that these vortices play the role of effective Minkowski spacetime quanta.


The Fiftieth Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid offers an opportunity to reflect on how American social policy has conceived of the problem of long-term care. In this essay, based on a longer forthcoming article, I argue that current policies adopt too narrow a conception of long-term care risk, by focusing on the effect of serious illness and disability on people who need care and not on the friends and family who often provide it. I propose a more complete view of long-term care risk that acknowledges how illness and disability reverberates through communities, posing insecurity for people beyond those in need of care.


ABSTRACT Co-inoculation of selected nitrogen-fixing bacteria with plant growth-promoting bacteria is the promising way for the improvement of soybean production through enhancing plant growth, nodulation, and N2 fixation. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to study the effects of co-inoculation of Bradyrhizobium elkanii BLY3-8 with Streptomyces griseoflavus P4 on plant growth, nodulation, N2 fixation, N uptake, and seed yield of Rj4 soybean varieties. Two experiments with completely randomized design and three replicates were done in this study. N2-fixation ability of soybean was evaluated by acetylene reduction activity (ARA) and relative ureide method. In the first experiment, synergetic effect in N2 fixation and nodulation was occurred in co-inoculation treatment (BLY3-8 + P4) in Yezin-3 and Fukuyutaka. Based on these results, co-inoculation effect of BLY3-8 and P4 was assessed on Yezin-3 and Fukuyutaka varieties at three different growth stages, using Futsukaichi soil under natural environmental conditions. This study shows that co-inoculation of BLY3-8 and P4 significantly increased N2 fixation at V6 stage; plant growth, nodulation, N2 fixation, and N uptake at R3.5 stage; and shoot growth, N uptake, and seed yield at R8 stage, in Rj4 soybean varieties compared with the control. Significant difference in plant growth, nodulation, N2 fixation, N uptake, and yield between co-inoculation and control, not between single inoculation and control, suggests that there is a synergetic effect due to co-inoculation of BLY3-8 and P4.


While self-supervised learning has made rapid advances in natural language processing, it remains unclear when researchers should engage in resource-intensive domain-specific pretraining (domain pretraining). The law, puzzlingly, has yielded few documented instances of substantial gains to domain pretraining in spite of the fact that legal language is widely seen to be unique. We hypothesize that these existing results stem from the fact that existing legal NLP tasks are too easy and fail to meet conditions for when domain pretraining can help. To address this, we first present CaseHOLD (Case Holdings On Legal Decisions), a new dataset comprised of over 53,000+ multiple choice questions to identify the relevant holding of a cited case. This dataset presents a fundamental task to lawyers and is both legally meaningful and difficult from an NLP perspective (F1 of 0.4 with a BiLSTM baseline). Second, we assess performance gains on CaseHOLD and existing legal NLP datasets. While a Transformer architecture (BERT) pretrained on a general corpus (Google Books and Wikipedia) improves performance, domain pretraining (on a corpus of ≈3.5M decisions across all courts in the U.S. that is larger than BERT's) with a custom legal vocabulary exhibits the most substantial performance gains with CaseHOLD (gain of 7.2% on F1, representing a 12% improvement on BERT) and consistent performance gains across two other legal tasks. Third, we show that domain pretraining may be warranted when the task exhibits sufficient similarity to the pretraining corpus: the level of performance increase in three legal tasks was directly tied to the domain specificity of the task. Our findings inform when researchers should engage in resource-intensive pretraining and show that Transformer-based architectures, too, learn embeddings suggestive of distinct legal language.


The main objective of this paper is to evaluate possible socioeconomic status, clinical, and treatment associations with the occurrence of distant metastasis in Stage I – III breast cancer patients. After analysis in a logistic regression model, four variables were found to be significant with occurrence of distant metastases. These variables were: education, disease group (Triple-negative, Her2Neu-positive and Luminal A), stage at diagnosis, and concordance to chemotherapy based on the NCCN guidelines. Patients without a college degree were found to be more likely to develop distant metastasis than those with a college degree (OR = 2.46 95% CI 1.44 – 4.23). Triple-negative and Her2Neu-positive patients had higher odds of having distant metastasis than those in with luminal A disease (OR = 3.88 and 3.22 95% CI 2.25 – 6.69 and 1.88 – 5.52, respectively). Stage III patients also had higher odds of having distant metastasis than those with Stage I disease (OR = 5.41 95% CI 2.74 – 10.65). Finally, an unusual result was discovered where patients who were not classified to a chemotherapy guideline were significantly less likely to have distant metastasis than their counterparts who received the recommended chemotherapy (OR = .32 95% CI 0.17-0.58).


The tourist gaze theory suggests that tourists are taught by the destination marketing organisation to know how, when, and where to look. However, the birth of travel blogs has challenged this image as they offer the public "unfiltered" information. Travel bloggers have become more powerful in influencing the decision making of potential tourists. This study employs textual and photographic content analysis to investigate the destination image of Indonesia held by the industry's key markets; Singapore and Australia. 106 blog entries and over 1,500 pictures were content analysed, and the results suggest that overall tourists tended to have positive images of Indonesia. International tourists are still very much concentrated in the traditionally popular places such as Bali and Jakarta. Negative images of Indonesia include inadequate infrastructure, ineffective wildlife protection, and westernisation of Bali. Natural and cultural resources are proven in this thesis to be Indonesia's top tourism products. Influenced by their cultural backgrounds, Singaporean and Australian bloggers have demonstrated a dissimilar tourist gaze. The current study also analysed the bloggers' image of Indonesia as opposed to the image projected by the government through the national tourism brand "Wonderful Indonesia". The results indicate a narrow gap between the two images. Implications for Indonesian tourism practitioners include stronger law enforcement to preserve local culture and natural attractions, and recognising the market's preference to promote other destinations. Recommendations for future research are discussed.


Galangal (Alpinia galanga (Linn.) Swartz.) is a popular spice in Thailand. Heavy metals, deriving from environmental pollution, might be contaminated in galangal rhizomes. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was a new and fast technique for ultratrace elemental analysis. The aim of this study was to validate a method for the determination of aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in galangal rhizomes according to the European standards (EU) using nitric acid digestion followed by ICP-MS. The parameters evaluated in the validation were recovery, repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). This method was used to analyze the concentrations of 11 heavy metals in 15 samples of galangal rhizomes collected in Nakhon Pathom province. The metal concentrations varied considerably in the different sample sources. The concentration of heavy metals in the galangal samples arranged in increasing order was Hg < Cd < As < Cr < Pb < Ni < Cu < Zn < Fe < Mn < Al. An acid digestion and ICP-MS method was applicable to determination of 11 heavy metals in galangal rhizomes, based on the recovery analysis, cost, and time taken


Histone acetylation is one of the most abundant post-translational modifications in eukaryotic cells; aberrant histone acetylation is related to a range of cancer types because of the dysregulation of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Inhibition of HDACs leads to suppression of tumor growth in multiple cancers, whereas the inhibitory effects of HDAC inhibitors remain incompletely understood in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant lung cancers. In this study, the antitumor effects of HDACs inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA, vorinostat) were examined in EGFR-mutant lung cancer cell lines. The results of the present work showed that SAHA markedly inhibited cell viability and proliferation, induced cell apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle in the G2/M phase, and significantly reduced tumor growth in a xenograft model. Further study confirmed that the suppression function of SAHA might be mediated by regulating the ERK-dependent and/or the AKT-dependent pathway; meanwhile, angiogenesis abrogation induced by SAHA exerted effects on tumor regression in vivo. Taken together, our results identify the antitumor effects of HDACs inhibitor SAHA as an alternative therapeutic application for the epigenetic treatment of EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer.


Operating experience with the first plant commissioned in England is described with particular reference to the changes in operating conditions and costs which have occurred. In the year ending 31st March, 1970 the operating costs, including transport of presscake and ash, were ₤2.8 per tonne sludge dry solids but in that ending March 1982 they were ₤73.

The factors, in addition to inflation, which were responsible for this are discussed. Reference is also made to plant reliability and maintenance aspects and to the improvements which have been made.

Investigations of ways of reducing costs, notably by tipping half the presscake in conjunction with the ash produced by burning the rest of the presscake, are described. Trials using waste derived fuel as a substitute for oil are referred to as is the use of polyelectrolytes for sludge conditioning instead of lime and copperas.


Sport for Development (SFD) uses the power of sport to support international development initiatives that affect social change and empower under-resourced communities (Levermore, 2008a). Currently, there are more than 1,000 SFD organizations globally (Doyle, Payne, & Wolff, 2011) working to enact change and development initiatives in the least developed regions of the world. Stakeholders are key components of the long-term sustainability, development, and success of these SFD organizations. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between SFD organizations and their stakeholders through the lens of social responsibility (SR). Through the analysis of interviews conducted with SFD leaders and their stakeholders, this research offers a modified version of Carroll's (1979) four categories of SR. This modified version addresses the differences that exist with SFD stakeholder relationships from the perspectives of the organizations and their stakeholders. Further, broader implications will be discussed in terms of compatibility and long-term sustainability. SFD AND STAKEHOLDER MOTIVES v Table of


The aim of this research is to assess the influential role of Geographic Information -as the location information concept- over citizens E-government adoption model citizens to adopt e-government and to introduce a full GI-based e-government citizens' adoption framework entitled GE-government. A thorough literature review was executed in order to examine how GI is relevant to e-government services and to identify the aspects of GI that may affect e-government adoption by citizens. This paper proposes a factor that could affect e-government adoption modelling, which has not been identified in the literature, so far. The paper concludes with a proposed GE-government citizens' adoption framework and outlines future research that will examine its validity.


Large amounts of information being generated in real time in a distributed environment due to recent development of cloud services such as SaaS, etc. is stored and managed in a database and is shared by users. But because the sensitive information of an individual is included in this information, the privacy damage by illegal utilization is worried. As the sensitive information is linked with specific individuals, this privacy damage is generated, so its anonymity, namely, unlinkability should be provided to solve this. Currently, the method of V. Ciriani, etc. for guaranteeing data privacy such as unlinkability, etc. is solving the unlinkability problem by using fragmentation and encryption. But this method includes a problem that the database capacity increases due to duplicate encryption data of attributes caused by fragmentation. This paper proposes a privacy enforcing method based on AONT to solve this problem. The proposed method is suitable for large data processing through variability of transformed pieces according to AONT properties and an XOR operation and can minimize the increase of database capacity.


In a multiwavelength survey of 13 quasars at 5.8 ≲ z ≲ 6.5, which were preselected to be potentially young, we find five objects with extremely small proximity zone sizes that may imply UV-luminous quasar lifetimes of ≲100,000 yr. Proximity zones are regions of enhanced transmitted flux in the vicinity of quasars that are sensitive to the quasars' lifetimes because the intergalactic gas has a finite response time to their radiation. We combine submillimeter observations from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array and the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array, as well as deep optical and near-infrared spectra from the medium-resolution spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope and on the Keck telescopes, in order to identify and characterize these new young quasars, which provide valuable clues about the accretion behavior of supermassive black holes in the early universe and pose challenges on current black hole formation models to explain the rapid formation of billion-solar-mass black holes. We measure the quasars' systemic redshifts, black hole masses, Eddington ratios, emission-line luminosities, and star formation rates of their host galaxies. Combined with previous results, we estimate the fraction of young objects within the high-redshift quasar population at large to be 5% ≲ f young ≲ 10%. One of the young objects, PSO J158–14, shows a very bright dust continuum flux (F cont = 3.46 ± 0.02 mJy), indicating a highly starbursting host galaxy with a star formation rate of approximately 1420 M ⊙ yr−1.


This paper presents an automated method for measuring 3D left ventricular (LV) strain in each imaged time frame from phase unwrapped harmonic phase (HARP) images derived from tagged cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. In previous work, manuallyplaced branch cuts were used to resolve phase inconsistencies in HARP images before they were unwrapped. This paper presents an automated method for placing branch cuts in short-axis images based on simulated annealing with a new cost function based on temporal phase consistency. This method significantly reduces the amount of user interaction needed to compute 3D strain maps in the entire LV in each imaged time frame. The unwrapped-phase-derived strains were validated on a set of 40 human studies by comparing them to strains estimated by a previously published feature based technique and a previously published unwrapped-phase technique with manual branch cut placement.


Nanotechnology and nanomaterials, in general, have become prominent areas of academic research. The ability to engineer at the nano scale is critical to the advancement of the physical and medical sciences. In the realm of physical sciences, the applications are clear: smaller circuitry, more powerful computers, higher resolution instruments. However, the potential impact in the fields of biology and medicine are perhaps even grander. The implementation of novel nanodevices is of paramount importance to the advancement of drug delivery, molecular detection, and cellular manipulation. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the development of nanotechnology for applications in neuroscience. The nervous system provides unique challenges and opportunities for nanoscale research. This thesis discusses some background in nanotechnological applications to the central nervous system and details : (1) The development of a novel calcium nanosenser for use in neurons and astrocytes. We implemented the calcium responsive component of Dr. Roger Tsien's Cameleon sensor, a calmodulin-M13 fusion, in the first quantum dot-based calcium sensor. (2) The exploration of cell-penetrating peptides as a delivery mechanism for nanoparticles to cells of the nervous system. We investigated the application of polyarginine sequences to rat primary cortical astrocytes in order to assess their efficacy in a terminally differentiated neural cell line. (3) The development of a cheap, biocompatible alternative to quantum dots for nanosensor and imaging applications. We utilized a positively charged co-matrix to promote the encapsulation of free sulforhodamine B in silica nanoparticles, a departure from conventional reactive dye coupling to silica matrices. While other methods have been invoked to trap dye not directly coupled to silica, they rely on positively charged dyes that typically have a low quantum yield and are not extensively tested biologically, or they implement reactive dyes bound to larger encapsulated molecules


The results of numerous surveys show that Exceptional Experiences (EE) belong to a human body of knowledge which is historically as well as trans-culturally common. They are frequent within the normal population . Although people with these experiences may develop irritations and alienations requiring treatment in consequence, the medical and psychosocial health care system hardly offers any competent help. In our study data were collected to better understand the clientele, their needs and the reported phenomena. In addition, data show the specific need for care in that area. Starting from N = 858 cases which were taken care of within the years of 1996 and 2000, sociodemographic data and mental health problems of this specific clientele are described. Moreover typical patterns of EE which were found by factor analysis are presented. Based on these patterns different EE-specific types of clients can be distinguished.


Background/Aim: Patients with cerebral metastases from gynecological cancer who receive whole-brain irradiation (WBI) alone require personalized therapy. This study contributes to personalized care by creating an instrument to predict 6-month survival probability. Patients and Methods: In 49 patients, six pre-treatment variables, namely age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score (ECOG-PS), primary tumor type, number of cerebral metastases, metastasis outside the brain, and interval between diagnosis of gynecological cancer and WBI, were analyzed for survival. Results: Of the six pre-treatment variables, ECOG-PS was significantly associated with survival (p=0.014) and metastasis outside the brain showed a trend for association (p=0.096). Six-month survival rates divided by 10 resulted in scores of 0, 2 or 7 points for ECOG-PS and of 2 or 7 points for metastasis outside the brain. Scores for individual patients were 2, 4, 7, 9 or 14 points. Three groups were created, those with 2-7, 9 and 14 points, with 6-month survival rates of 10%, 53% and 100%, respectively (p=0.004). Conclusion: An instrument was designed to predict the 6-month survival of patients receiving WBI for cerebral metastases from gynecological cancer and facilitate personalized care.


This thesis seeks to explain the lax enforcement of tax laws in Egypt. While I acknowledge that existing explanations emphasising amongst other things the importance of low administrative capacity, neopatrimonialism, or rentseeking may discern some of the drivers of tax collection performance, I claim that other factors have been neglected. Based on a combination of historical and ethnographic research, I show how historical legacies and contemporary political dynamics intertwine and shape taxation at the three levels of microlevel tax relations, intra-bureaucratic relations, and the administrative and political leadership. I argue that deep-seated distrust on the one hand, and the consequences of a persistent but broken social contract on the other, contribute to the lax enforcement of tax laws. I show how repressive statebuilding resulted in a legacy of distrust that became institutionalised over time and that permeates tax relations to this day. I also explain how post-colonial populist state-building has led to the formation of moral economies of a "caretaker state", widely-held norms, expectations and beliefs with respect to what the state should do for its citizens and its employees. The persistence of core aspects of this social contract until this day, in combination with its breaking by the state, shapes state and bureaucratic politics in important ways. On the one hand, tax collectors are in many different ways less inclined to do their jobs effectively and to strictly enforce the law against their fellow citizens. On the other hand, lenient enforcement is influenced by regime fears that the strict application of tax laws could provide a trigger for regimethreatening popular mobilisation. These findings make a number of different contributions to the literatures on taxation in developing countries, everyday governance and the enforcement of laws, as well as Middle East political science. Most crucially however, my research shows that both distrust and normative-ideational factors have to be taken seriously not only when it comes to explaining the willingness of taxpayer to pay, but also the willingness of tax collectors to collect.


The order structure of the set of six operators connected with quadrature rules is established in the class of 3–convex functions. Convex combinations of these operators are studied and their error bounds for four times differentiable functions are given. In some cases they are obtained for less regular functions as in the classical results.


A colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (CG-ICA) was developed to detect sulfamethazine (SM2) residues in five kinds of meat: namely, chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, and fish. The limit of detection (LOD) of CG-ICA for SM2 detection was 0.104 ng mL−1 within 20 min. CG-ICA exhibited a wide linear range of 0.1 ng mL−1 to 96 ng mL−1 with a reliable correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9938). The average recoveries of CG-ICA for SM2 detection in chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, and fish were 98.1% ± 4.6%, 86.1% ± 0.5%, 86.2% ± 4.9%, 71.7% ± 1.7%, and 79.2% ± 2.5%, respectively. The matrix effect of the five kinds of meat on CG-ICA was also assessed. The standard curves of the five matrices did not coincide with the standard curve of phosphate buffer saline, indicating that a matrix effect had occurred in CG-ICA for SM2 detection in the five matrices. The strongest matrix effect was elicited by beef, followed by fish, pork, and shrimp, whereas the weakest matrix effect was produced by chicken.


Abstract. The 2014–2015 Holuhraun lava-flood eruption of Barðarbunga volcano (Iceland) emitted prodigious amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. This eruption caused a large-scale episode of air pollution throughout Western Europe in September 2014, the first event of this magnitude recorded in the modern era. We gathered chemistry-transport simulations and a wealth of complementary observations from satellite sensors (OMI, IASI), ground-based remote sensing (lidar, sunphotometry, differential optical absorption spectroscopy) and ground-level air quality monitoring networks to characterize both the spatial-temporal distributions of volcanic SO2 and sulfate aerosols as well as the dynamics of the planetary boundary layer. Time variations of dynamical and microphysical properties of sulfate aerosols in the aged low-tropospheric volcanic cloud, including loading, vertical distribution, size distribution and single scattering albedo, are provided. Retrospective chemistry-transport simulations at low horizontal resolution (25 km  ×  25 km) capture the correct temporal dynamics of this far-range air pollution event but fail to reproduce the correct magnitude of SO2 concentration at ground-level. Simulations at higher spatial resolution, relying on two nested domains with finest resolution of 7.3 km  ×  7.3 km, improve substantially the far-range vertical distribution of the volcanic cloud and subsequently the description of ground-level SO2 concentrations. However, remaining discrepancies between model and observations are shown to result from an inaccurate representation of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) dynamics. Comparison with lidar observations points out a systematic under-estimation of the PBL height by the model, whichever the PBL parameterization scheme. Such a shortcoming impedes the capture of the overlying Barðarbunga cloud into the PBL at the right time and in sufficient quantities. This study therefore demonstrates the key role played by the PBL dynamics in accurately modelling large-scale volcanogenic air pollution.


CONTEXT
Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are uncommon. They usually present with gastrointestinal bleed, upper abdominal pain or mass abdomen. Tumor arising from the second part of duodenum can be wrongly diagnosed as pancreatic mass.

CASE REPORT
We present a case of a thirty-year-old male who came with chief complaint of mass upper abdomen. On laparotomy there was a 15x10 cm mass arising from the whole of anterior surface head of pancreas and was attached with the second part of duodenum for about 1-2 cm only. Patient underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy and histopathology revealed that tumor was arising from the duodenal wall.

CONCLUSION
Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors can grow exophytically into large mass and involve the pancreas without infiltrating microscopically and present as pancreatic head mass.


For a fixed index of refraction, solutions of a parabolic equation consist of local normal modes added together using phase factors that are distortions of those of the Helmholtz equation. A method is presented for perturbing the index of refraction in such a way that the distorted phase factors using a parabolic equation with the perturbed index are precisely the same as the desired phase factors that would have been obtained from the Helmholtz equation with the original index of refraction. The phase errors of numerous types of parabolic equations can be be eliminated in this way because the analytic form of the distortion of the phase factors follows from whatever formula has been used to approximate a certain square root. In addition, the perturbation of the index of refraction can be efficiently updated at each range step in a range‐dependent environment.


Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a popular spectroscopic method and has widespread use in many fields. Recent developments in solid-state NMR have increased interest in experiment and, alongside simultaneous developments in computational theory, have led to the field dubbed 'NMR crystallography.' This is a suite of methodologies, complementing the capabilities of other crystallographic methods in the determination of atomic structure, especially when large crystals cannot be made and when exploring materials with phenomena such as compositional, positional and dynamic disorder. NMR J-coupling is the indirect coupling between nuclear spins, which, when measured, can reveal a wealth of information about structure and bonding. This thesis develops and applies the method of Joyce for the prediction of NMR J-coupling in condensed matter systems using plane-wave pseudopotential density-functional theory, an important requirement for efficient treatment of finite and infinite periodic systems. It describes the first-ever method for the use of ultrasoft pseudopotentials and inclusion of special relativistic effects in J-coupling prediction, allowing for the treatment of a wider range of materials systems and overall greater user friendliness, thus making the method more accessible and attractive to the wider scientific community.


Invasive alien weeds pose a great threat to biodiversity by suppressing the native flora and causing negative impacts on crop yields. Parthenium hysterophorus is an exotic weed that causes nuisance and health hazard to mankind and animals, and is a danger to the environment. Experiments were conducted during summer and winter to understand the impact of different temperature conditions on the growth of Parthenium . Pot studies conducted at 22-300°C temperature conditions were considered as control. During summer at 35-450°C, various growth parameters significantly increased in comparison to the 7-150°C temperature regime in winter. Different biochemical constituents were also higher in the leaves during summer than in winter season. The present investigation clearly indicates that growth and productivity of Parthenium was directly proportional to the increase in atmospheric temperature, indicating the possibility of the influence of rising temperature on its invasiveness. Keywords : Climate change


The high level of student failure, accompanied by an increased drop-out rate, is problematic in higher education. It is especially a concern in programmes with the subjects of Mathematics, Accounting and Science. Over many years, models of student admission and selection have been widely researched both internationally and in South Africa. Research indicates that in the academic domain, underpreparedness results from a combination of a lack of English proficiency, mathematical ability and effective study skills. In view of the above, and government policy directives to broaden access in the scarce skills areas to increase student throughput, foundation provision was introduced for students of Commerce, Information Technology, Business, Mathematics and Informatics courses at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) in 2010. The question at that time then arose as to what criteria should be used for placing students in the extended programme. The placement of first-year students in appropriate programmes should be done with sensitivity to enhance academic success but, at the same time, should not 'label' students as underprepared. This paper provides perspectives on the selection criteria available for predicting academic success/preparedness, and then reports on students' own experiences. An action research study was conducted on the academic achievement of two cohorts of first-year students at the VTC of NWU. The quantitative results of the performance of first-year students in their core modules are compared to the results of predictive tests written after admission. The results provide valuable insight into the placement of students. Keywords: Academic preparedness, extended programmes, national senior certificate, national benchmark test Disciplines: Education management studies, higher education studies


Keywood: Understanding Of Company, Interest Employees, Performance Employees.

PT. Panjar Wijaya represent peripatetic company in the field of development of building. This company located in solid area of resident in town of Surabaya. In face of globalization era which progressively go forward hence company have to do cultural study of company about growth of company environment which is progesif. Interest employees issue represent one of the growth of progressive company environment so that need special attention if company wish culture in formulate how understanding of company to employees interest issue can affect to company culture. And can be taken by formulation of problem hence problem of this research can be formulated as follows : (1) High how the understanding of company about employees interest? (2) How well influence of understanding of company about employees interest to employees performance?

Research method the used is research of eksplanatif use technique analyse quantitative data. In research yield Identity responder which is needed in this research concerning gender, age, work, and education of each responder identity.

Pursuant to result of research which have is to be obtained result of able to be concluded as follows: (1) There is influence between understanding of company about employees interest to employees performance. Ever greater where attention of company about understanding of employees interest will progressively mount also employees performance. (2) Influence between understanding of company about employees interest to employees performance of value of regresi equal to 0,657 with storey; level of signifikansi 0,000 is later;then seen from coefficient of determinasi that there is relation equal to 58,2%, meaning variable rest which do not the included in this research.


In retail stores, cashier non-compliance activities at the Point of Sale (POS) are one of the prevalent sources of retail loss. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to reliably rank the list of detected non-compliance activities of a given retail surveillance system, thereby provide a means of significantly reducing the false alarms and improving the precision in non-compliance detection. Our approach represents each detected non-compliance activity using multi-modal features coming from video data, transaction logs (TLog) data and intermediate results of the video analytics. We then learn a binary classifier that successfully separate true positives and false positives in a labeled training set. A confidence score for each detection can then be computed using the decision value of the trained classifier, and a ranked list of detections can be formed based on this score. The benefit from having this ranked list is two-fold. First, a large number of false alarms can be avoided by simply keeping the top part of the list and discarding the rest. Second, a trade off between precision and recall can easily be performed by sliding the discarding threshold along this ranked list. Experimental results on a large scale dataset captured from real stores demonstrate that our approach achieves better precision than a state-of-the-art system at the same recall. Our approach can also reach an operating point that exceeds the retailers' expectation in terms of precision, while retaining an acceptable recall of more than 60%.


Therapeutic solutions to counter Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are challenging due to their intrinsically high level of antibiotic resistance. Bcc organisms display a variety of potential virulence factors, have a distinct lipopolysaccharide naturally implicated in antimicrobial resistance and are able to form biofilms, which may further protect them from both host defence peptides (HDPs) and antibiotics. Here, we report the extremely promising anti-biofilm and immunomodulatory activities of human HDP GVF27 on two of the most clinically relevant Bcc members, as Burkholderia multivorans and Burkholderia cenocepacia. The effects of synthetic and labelled GVF27 were tested on B. cenocepacia and B. multivorans biofilms, at three different stages of formation, by alternative microscopy approaches. Assays on bacterial cultures and on human monocytes challenged with B. cenocepacia LPS, were also performed. GVF27 exerts, at different stages of formation, meaningful anti-biofilm effects towards both Bcc strains, a significant propensity to function in combination with ciprofloxacin, a relevant affinity for LPSs isolated from Burkholderia cenocepacia as well as a good propensity to mitigate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in human cells pre-treated with the same endotoxin. Overall, all these findings contribute to the elucidation of the main features that a good therapeutic agent directed against these extremely leathery biofilm-forming bacteria should possess.


The last act of World War II took place in the Summer of 1945 with the explosions of the atomic bomb. Despite the fact that these events took place far from the "old continent" some European artists were deeply affected by the power of the atomic instrument and they meditated on a possible future dominated by a nuclear manipulation capable of redefining "the representation of man and his space". The goal of this paper is two-fold: firstly to analyze some specific aspects of artists who belonged to the "Movimento Arte Nucleare" and their affiliation with architectural practices, together with their 'dialogue' with the "International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus"; and secondly, to introduce the figure of the Nuclear Architect, Enzo Venturelli, in order to describe an original panorama based on the alliances and contaminations between diverse disciplines associated by the sensitive attention paid to the planning of the future and the rejection of Rationalist Architecture.


OBJECTIVE
To assess long-term outcome in women treated for vulvar dysesthesia (vulvodynia).

STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional survey via mailed questionnaires of women with vulvar dysesthesia treated at the University of Michigan. Questionnaires addressed symptom characteristics and their predictors, pregnancy response and treatments used. Analysis included t tests, nonparametric tests and multivariate analyses to assess associations between the degree of improvement (in the amount of pain experienced) since diagnosis and potential predictors of that outcome.

RESULTS
Of 234 questionnaires mailed, 104 were completed. Based on a 7-point pain scale (0-6, with 6 indicating excruciating pain), the level of pain at the time of the survey (1.6 +/- 1.3) was significantly lower than that at the time of diagnosis (4.5 +/- 1.5) (P < .0001). Of the 104 women, 56.8% reported > 50% improvement in their pain since diagnosis, and the pain had worsened in 1.9%. Greater improvement was noted with higher pain levels at baseline and with a shorter time since onset. The majority of women who had been pregnant since developing vulvar pain reported improvement (30%) or no change (40%) in symptoms during and after pregnancy. Treatments (nonrandom) rated as most effective included antidepressants (used for pain control) and anticonvulsant medications, biofeedback and counseling.

CONCLUSION
Most women with vulvar dysesthesia reported markedly less pain at follow-up, although few reported a "cure." Pregnancy was not associated with worsening of vulvar symptoms for most women. Controlled clinical trials will be needed to elucidate treatments that are most effective.


An examination of the debate surrounding Horen Kierkegaard's "Attack upon Christendom" reveals a tendency on the part of scholars to explain away these final polemics in terms of their author's physical and mental debilitation In opposition to such views it is here argued that the "Attack' has a place in Kierkegaard's authorship as an integral and consistent part of his overall strategy in the cause of Christian inwardness The principle of Subjectivity, adjudged to be decisive for Kierkegaard's understanding of Christianity, implies the relativisation of objective norms of Christian expression such as the Church It is endeavoured to show that Kierkegaard's contemporaries, and especially the Danish Church Primate, Bishop Kynster, failed to recognise such implications of his authorship for their own status as members of an established Church. Being thus misunderstood, Kierkegaard was forced into a direct assault upon the objective norms of Christendom, leaving behind the kind of indirect communication characterising his earlier strategy So the "Attack" is seen as consistent with the earlier authorship which is its presupposition. Whilst sensing the inevitability of the "Attack', Kierkegaard delayed its inception in the interests of his plea for honesty on the part of his readers, and in order that his own authority should be clarified. These two concepts are described and their significance evaluated. Because of their influence upon the timing and development of the "Attack?" , the personalities of J. P.Mynster and H. L. Martensen are expounded biographically whilst Kierkegaard's perspective on the Church is analysed in the interest of further contextualisation. Finally, the progress of the "Attack?' is traced with especial reference to the contemporary debate surrounding and, to an extent, moulding the form and content of Kierkegaard's output in his last years.


Purpose To evaluate ocular comfort of lifitegrast ophthalmic solution 5.0% among patients with dry eye disease (DED) in the OPUS-3 trial. Methods OPUS-3 was a multicenter, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study. Adults with DED and recent artificial tear use were randomized 1:1 (lifitegrast:placebo) to ophthalmic drops twice daily for 84 days. On days 0 (baseline), 14, 42, and 84, drop comfort score (scale, 0–10; 0 = very comfortable, 10 = very uncomfortable) was measured at 0, 1, 2, and 3 minutes postinstillation. If the score was >3 at 3 minutes, assessment was repeated at 5, 10, and 15 minutes until score ≤3. Ocular treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were assessed. Results Overall, 711 participants were randomized (n=357 received lifitegrast; n=354 received placebo). Drop comfort scores for lifitegrast-treated participants improved within 3 minutes of instillation (mean scores on day 84 for both study and fellow eyes: instillation: lifitegrast, 3.4, placebo, 1.0; 3 minutes: lifitegrast, 1.5, placebo, 0.7). The majority (64%–66%) of participants had scores <3 within 3 minutes postinstillation on days 14, 42, and 84. In participants with scores >3 at 3 minutes, the mean score in the lifitegrast group was similar to or better than that in the placebo group at 5, 10, or 15 minutes postinstillation. Lifitegrast appeared to be well tolerated, with ocular TEAEs rarely leading to discontinuation. Conclusion In OPUS-3, lifitegrast appeared to be well tolerated and drop comfort scores approached placebo levels by 3 minutes postinstillation.


This paper presents novel architectures for efficient implementation of Discrete Orthogonal Transforms (DOTs) using an FPGA based parameterisable system. These transforms are important in many signal and image processing applications including image and speech compression, filtering and coding. Two novel architectures for DOTs using both systolic architecture and distributed arithmetic design methodologies are presented. The first approach uses the Modified Booth-encoder-Wallace trees Multiplication (MBWM) algorithm for a systolic architecture implementation. The second approach is based on both distributed arithmetic ROM and accumulator structure, and Offset Binary Coding technique (OBC). Implementations of the algorithms on a Xilinx FPGA board are described. Distributed arithmetic approach exhibits better performances when compared with the systolic architecture approach.


Research shows that there exists a tremendous need for programs and practices that help rising ninth grade students successfully transition from middle to high school. Various studies depict these transition programs which are related to demographics such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, programs that center on rural, urban and suburban education as well as programs that are related to school size. This dissertation is a descriptive analysis of the transition practices for ninth grade students found in Maryland's public high schools. Using quantitative methodology with an emphasis on survey design, the study describes the relationship between the practices and the aforementioned factors that influence those practices. Secondary to the description is a determination by school staff regarding the effectiveness of these practices. Results from this study support the theory that transition practices are needed to address the many issues facing ninth grade students. The success of ninth grade students is dependent upon the use of these practices by high schools. This goal assists students to make a successful transition to high school leading to a successful educational experience High School Transition Practices for Ninth Graders iii


INTROduCTION This paper presents case studies of failures in the application of hot fluid-applied rubberized asphalt in new construction, discusses possible causes of failure, and discusses how the design and construction teams on each project overcame the challenges they encountered. The authors will demonstrate that a combination of thorough field observation, construction of mock-ups, and application of available ASTM testing methods to determine acceptability of the substrate will provide the best chance at successful application of hot fluid-applied rubberized-asphalt membranes.


This article reflects the topic of IT audit – information technology audit – with respect to research, consulting and teaching. The expression 'IT audit' comprises information systems audits as well as information security audits combining the short-term to long-term management of the IT infrastructure with its daily operation in order to achieve the organization's objectives. No overall common standard procedure for an IT audit works generally. However, standard procedures for IT audits, e.g. ISO 27001, are available, which must be particularly adapted and customized to fulfil a company's needs. This task requires experts. Thus, students of all Information Systems Bachelor or Master programs are trained to work in IT audit projects or even to lead them. This paper presents a case study, concerning the IT audit of organizations acting in the Swiss social insurance environment. The derived concepts are discussed. A best practice for the transfers of knowledge to students in terms of connecting research and consulting is proposed and discussed.


151 patients completed pulmonary rehabilitation over a period of over 4 years at our hospital. Retrospective analysis of 71 patients from this group was done. This showed that there was a significant difference between pre and post rehabilitation in FVC, VC, HADS depression score & SWT (shuttle walk test distance). Analysis of a sub group of 37 patients at 6 months after pulmonary rehabilitation showed that there were still significant differences in HADS depression & SWT, but not the other variables. We were able to establish a significant reduction in healthcare utilisation, both in hospital admissions and in out patient attendances. This was independent of the reported level of benefit on CRDQ scores. "Responders" (patients with a more than 1.5 increase in each of their CRDQ scores) had similar reduction in healthcare utilisation compared to "non-responders" (patients with <0.5 difference or deterioration in their CRDQ scores). At our hospital the approximate cost of pulmonary rehabilitation is 375 pounds per person. Out patient (respiratory) appointments and hospital admissions were noted for 1 year prior to and 1 year post rehabilitation. Our data showed that there was a 74% reduction in hospital admissions and a 51% reduction in out patient follow-up appointments in the 1-year after pulmonary rehabilitation. Our calculations showed that pulmonary rehabilitation was a cost effective intervention. In an attempt to identify patients who would respond well/poorly to pulmonary rehabilitation we looked at the baseline characteristics of "responders" vs "non responders". Responders Mean age 67.4 (range 50–82), mean FEV1 −0.84 (range 0.38–1.6), (FEV1%−37.2), mean FVC −1.93 (range 0.8–2.96), (FVC% 64), mean VC −2.08 (range 1.03–3.17), 54% were male, 46% female, 36% lived alone, mean pack years smoked 36.9 (range 0–80). Non responders Mean age 68 (range 44–80), mean FEV1 −1.29 (range 0.65–3.11), (FEV1%−45.9), mean FVC −2.51 (range 0.86–3.65), (FVC% 79.1), mean VC −2.71 (range 0.98–4.67), 50% were male, 50% female, 31% lived alone, mean pack years smoked 27.46 (range 1–80). This study raises questions with regard to the importance of current CRDQ assessment in rehabilitation. It also shows that the cost of pulmonary rehabilitation is at least offset by reduction in healthcare utilisation.


Abstract Background Decontamination of hospital isolation rooms can be conducted using vaporised hydrogen peroxide (VHP). A more rapid biological indicator, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence, could allow rooms to be reoccupied sooner and reduce down time. Aim This study examined the ATP bioluminescence assay as a way to evaluate biological indicators to confirm decontamination following the use of VHP. Methods Response to VHP exposure was evaluated using microbial inactivation by standard culture methods and by the ATP bioluminescence assay. Range finding determined the approximate exposure time necessary to achieve partial and complete inactivation of the organisms. Two-hundred-and-fifty parts per million of VHP was delivered to the chamber during the exposure cycle. Fifty cm 2 stainless steel coupons were inoculated with 50 mL of organism suspensions containing >10 9 colony forming units (CFU) of the following: Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae , and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . The standard manufactured biological indicator stainless steel discs containing concentrations of 10 4 , 10 5 and 10 6 CFU/surface of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores were also evaluated. Findings Multiple log-reductions were shown utilising standard culture methods for each organism, but the ATP bioluminescence assay did not show a corresponding log-reduction. Conclusion The ATP bioluminescence assay was not considered an effective alternate to standard culture-based methodologies for the confirmation of VHP decontamination.


AbstractThis study investigated the performance of the forward osmosis (FO) process for treating produced water. Water permeate flux and reverse salt flux (RSF) were examined at different feed pH values and operating configurations (i.e. FO, pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), and reverse osmosis (RO) modes). Acetic acid was selected as a model organic acid to present the dissolved organic fraction in produced water. Results reported here indicate that only membranes specifically designed for FO applications can be used in the FO and PRO modes. Due to the internal concentration polarization phenomenon, the PRO mode resulted in a higher water permeate flux and RSF than those in the FO mode. Acetate rejection was pH dependent in both the FO and RO modes. Furthermore, in the RO mode, acetate rejections by the FO membranes were higher than their nanofiltration counterparts. Results reported here suggest that FO can be a viable treatment option for the removal of dissolved organics from produced water.


This paper studies the effects of introducing legal street prostitution zones on both registered and perceived crime. We exploit a unique setting in the Netherlands where legal street prostitution zones were opened in nine cities under different regulation systems. We provide evidence that the opening of these zones was not in response to changes in crime. Our difference-in-difference analysis using data on the largest 25 Dutch cities between 1994 and 2011 shows that opening a legal street prostitution zone decreases registered sexual abuse and rape by about 30% to 40% in the first two years. For cities which opened a legal street prostitution zone with a licensing system we also find significant reductions in drug-related crime and long-term effects on sexual assaults. Perceived drug nuisance increases upon opening but then decreases below pre-opening levels in cities with a licensed prostitution zone. In contrast, we find permanent increases in perceived drug crime in the areas adjacent to the legal prostitution zones.


In 2012, gastric cancer (GC) was the third cause of mortality due to cancer in men and women. In Central and South America, high mortality rates have been reported. A total of 95% of tumors developed in the stomach are of epithelial origin; thus, these are denominated adenocarcinomas of the stomach. Diverse classification systems have been established, among which two types of GC based on histological type and growth pattern have been described as follows: Intestinal (IGC) and diffuse (DGC). Approximately 1–3% of GC cases are associated with heredity. Hereditary-DGC (HDGC), with 80% penetrance, is an autosomal-type, dominant syndrome in which 40% of cases are carriers of diverse mutations of the CDH1 gene, which encodes for the cadherin protein. By contrast, microRNA are non-encoded, single-chain RNA molecules. These molecules regulate the majority of cellular functions at the post-transcriptional level. However, analysis of these interactions by means of Systems Biology has allowed the understanding of complex and heterogeneous diseases, such as cancer. These molecules are ubiquitous; however, their expression can be specific in different tissues either temporarily or permanently, depending on the stage of the cell. Due to the participation of microRNA in the processes of cellular proliferation, cell cycle control, apoptosis, differentiation and metabolism, these have been indicated to have a role in the development of cancerous processes, finding specific patterns of expression in different neoplasms, including GC, in which the microRNA expression profile is different in samples of non-cancerous versus cancerous tissues. A difference has been observed in the expression patterns of DGC and IGC. However, the role of microRNA in HDGC has not yet been established. The present study reviews the investigations that describe the participation of microRNA in the regulation of genes CDH1, RHOA, CTNNA1, INSR and TGF-β in different neoplasms, such as HDGC.


From an Error Management Theory (EMT) perspective, we expect a negative forgiveness bias, in which one underestimates a romantic partner's forgiveness following one's own transgressions. The function would be to secure that the transgressions are fully mended through reparative behavior. The extent to which this bias is related to infidelity and type of infidelity has not yet been examined. Both parties in heterosexual couples (N = 92) responded independently to questionnaires about their reactions to hypothetical emotional and sexual infidelity scenarios: forgiveness of unfaithful partner's hypothetical infidelity and likelihood of believing in cheated partner's forgiveness. Question order was balanced for self and partner transgressions. The results suggest strong negative forgiveness bias effects. Participants reported less belief in their infidelity being forgiven compared with 2 different criteria of partner forgiveness (self-rated and expressed by partner). This negative forgiveness bias was present for both emotional and sexual infidelity scenarios, and for male and female participants. However, this bias was clearly less pronounced for emotionally unfaithful men. In addition, as predicted, relative to women, men imagining being victims of emotional infidelity perceived this to be less threatening to the relationship compared with being victim of sexual infidelity: They also expressed more forgiveness and less need of keeping distance. Need for revenge and likelihood of breaking up because of partner's infidelity evinced no sex differentiated patterns. The study provides novel and deeper insights into how men and women perceive and react to the distress of emotional and sexual infidelity.


OBJECTIVES
Low relationship power and victimization by intimate partner violence (IPV) have been linked to HIV risks among adult and adolescent women. This article examines associations of IPV and relationship power with sexual-risk behaviors and whether the associations differ by gender among South African adolescents.

METHOD
Sexual-risk behaviors (multiple partners in past 3 months; condom use at last sex), IPV, and relationship power were collected from 786 sexually experienced adolescents (mean age = 16.9) in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, during the 54-month follow-up of a HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk-reduction intervention trial. The data were analyzed with logistic regression models.

RESULTS
Adolescent boys were less likely to report condom use at last sex (p = .001) and more likely to report multiple partners (p < .001). A Gender × IPV interaction (p = .002) revealed that as IPV victimization increased, self-reported condom use at last sex decreased among girls, but increased among boys. A Gender × Relationship Power interaction (p = .004) indicated that as relationship power increased, self-reported condom use at last sex increased among girls, but decreased among boys. A Gender × IPV interaction (p = .004) indicated that as IPV victimization increased, self-reports of having multiple partners increased among boys, but not among girls. As relationship power increased, self-reports of having multiple partners decreased irrespective of gender.

CONCLUSIONS
HIV risk-reduction interventions and policies should address gender differences in sexual-risk consequences of IPV and relationship power among adolescents and promote gender equity. (PsycINFO Database Record


The European gas network currently includes approximately 200,000 km high pressure transmission and distribution pipelines. The needs and requirements of this network are focused on risk-based security asset management, impacts and cascading effects of cyber-physical attacks on interdependent and interconnected European Gas grids. The European SecureGas project tackles these issues by implementing, updating, and incrementally improving extended components, which are contextualized, customized, deployed, demonstrated and validated in three business cases, according to scenarios defined by the end-users. Just validation is considered to be a key end activity, the essence of which is the evaluation of the proposed solution to determine whether it satisfies specified requirements. Therefore, the chapter deals with the validation strategy that can be implemented for the verification of these objectives and evaluation of technological based solutions which aim to strengthen the resilience of the European gas network.


Maturational changes in the physiologic processes that govern drug disposition in pediatric patients are described, and evaluation of data from pediatric drug studies is discussed. Gastrointestinal absorption depends on gastric pH, gastric emptying time, intestinal transit time, and gastrointestinal enzymatic activity; the overall effect of age-related alterations in these variables is poorly understood. Maturational changes in the skin affect percutaneous absorption. Distribution of drugs is affected by alterations in vascular perfusion, body composition, tissue binding, and plasma protein binding. For most water-soluble drugs, volume of distribution is increased in neonates. Age-related changes in biotransformation are complex because the rate of development of phase 1 and phase 2 metabolic pathways varies and metabolic pathways may be induced by in utero exposure to inducing agents. For most drugs, biotransformation is decreased in the neonate, increases from one to five years of age, and decreases after puberty to adult values. The kidneys of neonates are inefficient at drug elimination, leading initially to prolonged elimination half-lives of many drugs. Clearance of some drugs may be greater in infants than in older children and adults because of disproportionate development of renal filtration and secretion in relation to reabsorption. Few data on maturational changes in physiologic processes that affect drug disposition are available for any one drug in a specific pediatric population. In the development of research protocols, careful attention should be paid to the design limitations of published studies.


Four new species of cyathaspidid extend the range of the genus Poraspis back into the Late Silurian and indicate that the Canadian arctic was its center of origin. Poraspis heintzae n. sp., P. cracens n. sp., P. thules n. sp. and P. parmula n. sp. also increase the known geographic range of the genus which had previously been reported only from the District of Mackenzie (NWT, Canada), Spitsbergen, western and eastern Europe. The identification of P. sericea from the upper member of the Peel Sound Formation substantiates correlation of this interval with the crouchi zone of the Anglo-Welsh Borders, and provides another rare example of a species common to the Canadian arctic and European successions.


Ward rounds (WRs) have been a valuable resource in medical education for both learners and teachers since first recorded in 1660. Previous studies have shown that over 50% of junior doctor learning occurs on WRs. However, postgraduate medical education in the UK has changed significantly over recent years with the adoption of the foundation programme and the application of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). Using an anonymous questionnaire and small group discussions, foundation year doctors were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the educational value of WRs. Eighteen per cent of foundation year doctor learning occurs on WRs. Hindrances to learning and teaching include lack of time, increasing patient numbers and an absence of team consistency. The current study is the first to investigate the impact on the educational value of WRs following the introduction of the EWTD and the foundation programme. WRs continue to play a crucial role in postgraduate medical education but increasing pressure of service commitment and lack of teacher training continue to threaten this learning opportunity.


: In the article are presented data, based on the research analysis, corroborating the necessity of creation of individual joint surfaces of single-pole endoprostheses of hip joint. There are presented the descriptions of the endoprosthesis, proposed by T. Kikacheishvily and the operative technique with application of the said construction. There is given the analysis of the results of treatment of 58 patients of elderly and senile age with the femoral neck fractures, which were operated on with the application of Kikacheishvily's construction. It is suggested that in case of endoprosthetics of recent femoral neck fractures there can be achieved much better functional results as compared with the results obtained in case of treatment of patients with already formed false joint. The author indicates that the proposed construction ensures positive and stable results and proposes to introduce it in common clinical practice.


The purpose of the study was to analysis of the learners' behavior during MOOC and determining the learners' course completion rates. The explorative research design was followed in the study. The sample of the study was 250 learners, which was selected using of sampling technique called stratified simple random sampling. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to determine learners' behavior in MOOCs and a t-test for unequal variances was used to find a significant difference between learners learning behavior among clusters. MOOCs were administered on the MOODLE platform, targeting learners from diverse domains and organizations. Results found two engagement patterns emerged from this study as participated learners visited the course periodically and certified learners completed the course thoroughly. The learning behavior and pattern of these two clusters were likely to prove an improvement in the quality of learning environment. Findings indicated that there was a significant difference in the fourth-week engagement pattern and quiz marks between two cluster learners. The study underlines the importance of internal and external drivers in higher education as distance, vocational and online education to support the quality of technology-enhanced learning in higher education.


On December 10, 1997, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel withdrew from the Organization of Islamic Conference summit in Tehran. Many suspect that he did so to avoid facing criticism for Turkey's increasingly close ties to Israel. Turkey's cooperation with Israel and its withdrawal from the conference both illustrate the unfaltering secularism of the present Turkish government and promise to fuel the ongoing conflict between Islamists and secularists in Turkey. The forced resignation and subsequent trial of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan is the latest in a long series of confrontations that dates back to the founding of modern Turkey. Seventy-five years after its founding, Turkey still struggles with its self-definition as a Western-oriented Muslim society. In the early 1920s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led a revolution that replaced the Islamic traditions of the Ottoman Empire with the secular practices of modern Turkey. From the elimination of religious schools to the replacement of Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, these sweeping secular reforms spanned all levels of society. To counter the influence of religion on society, the secularists sought to place religious and educational institutions under state control. In the years that followed, the increased involvement of the military as secularism's champion and protector characterized Turkish politics. The army staged three coups (1960, 1971, and 1980) to counter opposition Islamist elements that threatened secularism. Although Turkey has been under civilian rule since 1983, the pervasive power of the military asserts itself in governmental affairs in a number of ways, most clearly through the decision-making power of the National Security Council. In Turkey, as in other Muslim countries, religion and religious symbols have always held immense power. In the same spirit that Ataturk and his contemporaries placed religion under state control, the Turkish military used religion as a tool to suppress extremists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1990s, Islamists have integrated religious principles and a political agenda for social reform under the banner of Islamic nationalism. In the eyes of the military and the intellectual elite, Islamic nationalism poses a serious challenge to the established order, as it constitutes an alternative to Ataturk's secular nationalism. The Islamist Welfare Party secured 21 percent of seats in the 1995 Turkish parliamentary elections, and its leader, Professor Necmettin Erbakan, became modern Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister. In the year Erbakan spent as Prime Minister, the government made several distinctly Islamist reforms, including reinstating religious academies and strengthening ties with other Islamic nations. Frightened that Turkey was slanting towards fundamentalism, the military forced Erbakan to resign in June 1997. President Suleyman Demirel appointed Misut Yilmaz of the conservative, secular Motherland Party to the vacated post. …


Introduction: Pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of all cancers. The current standard care for metastatic pancreatic cancer is gemcitabine, however, the success of this treatment is poor and overall survival has not improved for decades. Drug resistance (both intrinsic and acquired) is thought to be a major reason for the limited benefit of most pancreatic cancer therapies. Areas covered: Previous studies have indicated various mechanisms of drug resistance in pancreatic cancer, including changes in individual genes or signaling pathways, the influence of the tumor microenvironment, and the presence of highly resistant stem cells. This review summarizes recent advances in the mechanisms of drug resistance in pancreatic cancer and potential strategies to overcome this. Expert opinion: Increasing drug delivery efficiency and decreasing drug resistance is the current aim in pancreatic cancer treatment, and will also benefit the treatment of other cancers. Understanding the molecular and cellular basis of drug resistance in pancreatic cancer will lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies with the potential to sensitize pancreatic cancer to chemotherapy, and to increase the efficacy of current treatments in a wide variety of human cancers.


Platforms for online civic participation rely heavily on methods for condensing thousands of comments into a relevant handful, based on whether participants agree or disagree with them. These methods should guarantee fair representation of the participants, as their outcomes may affect the health of the conversation and inform impactful downstream decisions. To that end, we draw on the literature on approval-based committee elections. Our setting is novel in that the approval votes are incomplete since participants will typically not vote on all comments. We prove that this complication renders non-adaptive algorithms impractical in terms of the amount of information they must gather. Therefore, we develop an adaptive algorithm that uses information more efficiently by presenting incoming participants with statements that appear promising based on votes by previous participants. We prove that this method satisfies commonly used notions of fair representation, even when participants only vote on a small fraction of comments. Finally, an empirical evaluation using real data shows that the proposed algorithm provides representative outcomes in practice.


Background : Genetically engineered (GM) crops are produced by the insertion of specific genes from Bacillus thuringiensis [Bt] that encode a transgenic protein which must be evaluated for potential safety and allergenicity prior to crop development and market release. Objective : The aim of the present work was to re inspect the allergenicity of Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C transgenic protein sequences using FASTA based bioinformatics tools. Methods : An in silico approach was employed to assess allergenicity and cross-reactivity of three Cry proteins- Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C being preferred transgenic proteins of crop developers in India. A non-allergenic dietary spinach rubisco, a small subunit protein, and a known food allergen Arah 1 were analysed as per recommended criteria, using Full FASTA alignment and 80 amino acid window approach in allergen databases- FARRP and SDAP. Results : None of the transgenic Cry 1Ab, Cry 1Ac and Cry 1C proteins showed sequence similarity of >35% with any known allergenic sequence in allergen databases. Dietary protein showed a high of only 21% similarity with Apim allergen sequence, while Arah 1, a proven food allergen reflected greater than 35% sequence similarity with known allergen such as beta-conglycin under the 80 amino acid window approach. Conclusion : The allergenicity assessment by in silico tools of three Cry proteins, used for development of genetically engineered crops did not indicate significant alignment and similarity with any known allergen(s) in the database. This confirmed the approach for use of Cry proteins as safe transgenic proteins in genetic engineering from allergenicity point of view.


Fluorometric quantification of biological molecules is a key feature used in many biosensing studies. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using highly fluorescent quantum dots offers highly sensitive detection of the in-proximity wide variety of analyst molecules. In this contribution, we report the use of carbon quantum dots (CDs) for the ultrasensitive optical biosensing of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in the early malignant stage. This approach is based on monitoring the quenching of CDs luminescence at 535 nm by CA-125 after excitation at 425 nm and pH 10. The calibration of this method was performed in the concentration range of CA-125 from 0.01 to 129 U ml−1 (R2 = 0.99) with a detection limit of 0.66 U ml−1, which matches remarkably with the standard chemiluminometric method in control and real patient samples. The sensing mechanism for cancer antigen 125 assessment was discussed on the basis of fluorescence quenching of CDs and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. The current method is easy, sensitive, cost-effective and provides a wide range of validity, which helps in overcoming the limitations of high cost and time consumption exhibited by many other traditional clinical assays for CA-125 quantification.


In May 1997 the British Labour Party swept into power with a majority which exceeded all expectations. Many ommentators in the 1980s had written off Labour's chances of governing again. Yet they were elected with more votes and more seats than they had ever won before. Nearly four million more people voted Labour than Conservative. Labour won 418 seats as against 165 for the outgoing Conservative government. On the left and centre of the political spectrum there was euphoria. An eighteen year era of neo-liberal government had come to an end. Many ordinary people were glad to see a divided, scandal-ridden, incompetent and out of touch Conservative government removed. A new government promising a more compassionate communitarianism and radical constitutional reform, a high priority for education and health, with a young, modern dynamic leader and realistic, achievable policies had arrived1. In government New Labour, in its own words, 'hit the ground running'. It was wellprepared and quickly introduced a packed programme of measures. Throughout Europe politicians were closely examining Blair's revisionist 'Third Way' to see what could be learned. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, elected weeks after Blair, and the Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alemo, were seen not as Blairites but as more traditionally social democratic or Left-wing. Schroder, elected nearly 18 months after New Labour, used Blair's ideas a lot more and was keener to be associated with him, although Oskar Lafontaine is, like Jospin, more traditionally social democratic in his rhetoric. The Dutch Social Democrats were seen by many as forerunners to New Labour. In the 1998 Swedish elections politicians from different parties competed to compare themselves with Tony Blair. By 1998 there were social democrats or others on the Left in government throughout Europe - in countries such as Britain, Germany, France, most of Scandinavia, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Holland and the Czech Republic. After two years in government and the opening up of debate on the ideology, policies and practices of Britain's New Labour government, what does New Labour amount to and what do the critics have to say? As a fairly traditional socialist who believes in redistribution and greater equality I started a few years ago to examine New Labour expecting to be sympathetic to many of Blair's critics. A number of them do have strong, insightful things to say and there are limits to Labour's politics. Yet closer examination of New Labour led me to conclude that many of those criticisms also misunderstand New Labour or miss its merits.


This thesis addresses how social entrepreneurship (SE) is being enacted in a developing economy as a means to promote poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Researching SE in developing economies is relevant considering the need to identify sustainable and innovative models for private sector engagement and civil society capacity building in contexts marked by resource constraints, institutional voids, and aid-dependency.

SE blends financial, societal and environmental benefits. It is expected to empower local communities and treat the root cause of problems, putting society ahead of the individual. A SE movement led by international elites is gaining momentum in contemporary market economies. It demands a wider ethical and socially inclusive type of capitalism. This has caused research into SE to export normative western institutional meanings across countries. However, since meanings are mediated by context, research is required to understand how SE is interpreted in 'non-western' contexts. In addition, there is a lack of empirical studies situating SE in developing economies. Therefore, little is known about whether SE practices in developing economies are given the same meaning. These limitations reflect the de-contextualised approach that has dominated entrepreneurship theory. There is the need to reflexively examine the boundaries of extant theories of SE by inquiring how SE is enacted in less-known contexts.

This study utilises the institutional logics perspective to examine the dynamic and recursive meanings people draw upon to undertake and legitimise SE activities in Mozambique; a country over-reliant on foreign investment and donor funding. Complex institutional environments provide an opportunity to examine how local and globalised institutional logics affect what is to be considered legitimate and who has the authority to do it. In order to shed light on the above, the following research question was devised:
How is social entrepreneurship enacted and legitimised in a developing economy through local and globalised institutional logics?
In order to address this question, the thesis adopts a practice perspective of SE. It shifts the focus of analysis from the individual entrepreneur towards entrepreneuring or the activities that people engage in to access and utilise resources in meaningful ways. Practices are useful to examine how actors understand and mobilise multiple institutional logics through everyday actions.
The research was conducted using a reflexive ethnographic methodology to observe how diverse actors mobilise multiple logics to achieve intentional outcomes. Ethnography provided a means of entering 'natural' social sites and the everyday activities of those being studied. Materials were collected over three fieldtrips to Maputo (including living in the country for three consecutive months) making use of: field notes; photographs; video recordings; participant observation; semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with a breath of participants ranging from the elite to the urban poor. Documents such as reports, leaflets and newspaper articles were also analysed, accounting for wider societal discourses. The utilisation of multiple methods and several data sources conferred credibility, consistency and empirical validity to the research findings.

The research suggests that different social groups draw upon contradictory logics, which mirror the institutionalised meanings they value. The mobilisation of particular logics plays a role in determining which organisational forms serve as models and how institutional expectations are conveyed in order to get legitimacy. Also, diverse interpretations of SE activities were found to result from different degrees of embeddedness in the local context. The thesis points to three main practices of SE: exogenous, endogenous and trans-cultural. Exogenous SE practices tend to reproduce western models, routines, expectations and normative assumptions. These are directed at creating a new environment. Endogenous SE practices conform to logics traditionally associated with non-western societies. These are directed at rearranging the local environment. Trans-cultural SE practices use a dual legitimacy, local and international, to transform the environment by combining and translating multiple logics.

This study furthers our understanding on how potentially conflicting logics from western and non-western cultures interplay, within the field of SE. This provides a more nuanced comprehension of the diversity of logics mobilised to give meaning to SE practices in developing economies. The research makes four further theoretical contributions. It problematises existing SE hegemonic assumptions and discourses that narrow our understanding of the SE phenomenon by emphasising western logics over others. It brings to the fore overlooked necessity-driven practices of SE undertaken informally at the grassroots. These are easily ignored for being undertaken by people who make do with what is at hand to tackle enduring poverty in contexts of subsistence. The thesis yields insights into the transformative potential of trans-cultural practices for legitimising SE. Finally, it explains the mediating effects of a 'hybrid context' on the enactment and legitimisation of SE in a developing economy.

By examining how SE is legitimised in the research setting, this thesis sheds light on the diverse practices through which different types of resources are mobilised to bring about change. This may assist both development policies and resourceful SE promoters to better support and convey legitimacy to change-oriented local endeavours and communities engaged in SE. The thesis contributes to practice by emphasising self-sufficiency and real empowerment. It also urges social entrepreneurs to better adapt and translate their ventures to suit the local needs of the poor. Researching how SE is enacted and legitimised in a developing economy opens up opportunities for more inclusive and pluralistic approaches to poverty alleviation and the globalisation of SE. This thesis therefore aims to contribute by engaging debate about how SE can be further contextualised and translated across borders to benefit communities across the world.


Microsatellite instability (MSI)‐mutator phenotype variably targets microsatellite‐like sequences in coding regions of cancer‐related genes. Intratumor histological heterogeneity of gastric carcinoma with MSI was evaluated and found to be linked with the topographical distribution of MSI‐associated mutations. One hundred fifty tumor sites derived from 51 gastric cancer patients were microdissected with respect to histological and topographical clonality. We found 11 gastric carcinomas with a high frequency of MSI, which were characterized by marked intratumor genetic heterogeneity arising from the progressive MSI‐phenotype that was associated with frameshift mutations on multiple cancer‐related genes. The 11 MSI‐tumor cases manifested the MSI‐phenotype in 34 of 36 tumor sites tested, but not in the remaining 2 sites. Most (88.2%, 30 of 34) MSI‐positive sites and most (96.2%, 25 of 26) tumor sites harboring the frameshift mutations in transforming growth factor‐β receptor type II gene exhibited intestinal‐type histology, whereas the 2 MSI‐negative sites were found to be of diffuse‐type histology without accompanying frameshift mutations. In 2 of 5 cases harboring E2F‐4 frameshift mutations, glandular structures of intestinal‐type tumor were likely to be variably differentiated in relation to the extent of the mutation, i.e., the number of mutated alleles and the size of deleted or inserted base pairs. Overall, the intratumor histological heterogeneity of gastric carcinoma with MSI was associated with the progressive frameshift mutations in transforming growth factor‐β receptor type II and E2F‐4 genes. Int. J. Cancer 82:782–788, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This comprehensive new history of Mobile celebrates the rich heritage of Alabama's oldest city and commemorates the city's tricentennial from 1702 to the present. Alabama's oldest city from the period of European settlement was founded in 1702 by French naval officer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. Bienville named the settlement after the nearby Maubila Indians and situated it on the west side of the protected harbor now called Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. During the colonial period, Mobile was occupied successively by the French, British, and Spanish until it was seized by the Americans in 1813. From this point on, the city quickly evolved from a trading post into a prosperous river port, thanks to the cotton production of antebellum Black Belt plantations. After the defeat of the Confederacy, Mobile began to decline and Birmingham took over as the economic leader of Alabama. During World War II, Mobile experienced a second boom period as shipbuilding and defense industries expanded and flourished. At the turn of the 21st century, as it celebrates its tricentennial, Mobile remains an important American port city whoes economy has diversified to include oil, natural gas, and paper. "Mobile: The New History of Alabama's First City "reassesses Mobile's place in American history and celebrates its proud heritage. Recognized scholars of Mobile history have collaborated to produce a highly readable, richly illustrated narrative that showcases the great range of influences on this bustling maritime city. Published in cooperation with the Mobile Tricentennial Committee, this long-awaited book will be invaluable to historians and general readers alike as it documents and interprets the first 300 years of a great and vital American city. "


Exhaustive research in every major archive of the world has created this compilation of information and images focusing on Bernhardt's films and twenty early wax-cylinder and disc recordings. Detailed analyses of the motion pictures include plot synopses, casts, production notes, and contemporary reviews. Complete records of Bernhardt's work on stage, in films, and recordings are annotated and indexed.The book includes such rare items as dramatic readings by Bernhardt on early wax cylinders and 78rpm (transcribed in the original French and translated into English for the first time), as well as stills from a previously unknown film (depicting the death scene from the 1921 "Daniel").


It is widely accepted that of the four Replication Factor C (RFC) complexes (defined by the associations of either Rfc1p, Ctf18p, Elg1p or Rad24p with Rfc2p-Rfc5p), only Ctf18-RFC functions in sister chromatid cohesion. This model is based on findings that CTF18 deletion is lethal in combination with mutations in either CTF7ECO1 or MCD1 sister chromatid cohesion genes and that ctf18 mutant cells exhibit cohesion defects. Here, we report that Elg1-RFC not only participates in cohesion but performs a function that is distinct from that of Ctf18-RFC. The results show that deletion of ELG1 rescues both ctf7eco1 mutant cell temperature sensitivity and cohesion defects. Moreover, over-expression of ELG1 enhances ctf7eco1 mutant cell phenotypes. These findings suggest that the balance of Ctf7pEco1p activity depends on both Ctf18-RFC and Elg1-RFC. We also report that ELG1 deletion produces cohesion defects and intensifies the conditional phenotype of mcd1 mutant cells, further supporting a role for Elg1-RFC in cohesion. Attesting to the specificity of these interactions, deletion of RAD24 neither suppressed nor exacerbated cohesion defects in either ctf7eco1 or mcd1 mutant cells. While parallel analyses failed to uncover a similar role in cohesion for Rad24-RFC, it is well known that Rad24-RFC, Elg1-RFC and Ctf18-RFC play key roles in DNA damage responses. We tested and found that Ctf7pEco1p plays a significant role in Rad24-RFC-based DNA response pathways. In combination, these findings challenge current views and document new and distinct roles for RFC complexes in cohesion and for Ctf7pEco1p in DNA repair.


The authors study causal dynamic source-channel codes for mean-square stabilisation of a linear plant with random initial state, over binary symmetric channels (BSCs). A binary expansion source coding scheme and two types of channel coding schemes are investigated: (i) dynamic repetition encoding under sequential majority logic decoding, and (ii) dynamic Fountain encoding under sequential BP decoding. The coding schemes are first analysed for an open-loop system, where the goal is to transmit a real-valued source over BSCs with the objective of minimising end-to-end mean-square error distortion. They derive upper- and lower bounds on the achievable distortion which is a function of time. Based on these distortion bounds, they show that the dynamic Fountain codes are able to stabilise (in mean-square sense) an unstable linear plant over BSCs.


In this paper, we present a pull-based dissemination protocol for efficient distribution of scalable video content in overlay peer-to-peer networks with mesh structures. The proposed protocol employs prioritized network coding, where the network coded packets belong to classes that represent packets of different priorities. For a receiver, the pull procedure begins with the reception of buffer vector messages from the senders, which bring information about the numbers and classes of available packets. The receiver node decides on the rate allocation of the different classes to be requested from each of the senders. The rate allocation is cast as a video quality maximization problem and solved using a hill-climbing algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed mechanism, which is able to fully adapt to network dynamics, accounts for the unequal packet importances and utilizes the network resources efficiently.


The general law of regional spatial evolution is researched. In the process of the evolution of four stages, namely the early stage of traditional agriculture and industrialization, the middle stage of industrialization, the later stage of industrialization and post-industrialization, the types of space are homogenized space, polarized space, pole-axis space and integrated space respectively; the choosing of the spatial location is influenced by economy, society and environment, and the spatial structure extends along with three-dimensional space. Based on the fact that China's urban-rural spatial structure evolution develops rapidly, and the outstanding characteristics of dual structure becomes the main obstacle to urban-rural balanced development, the thesis poses the countermeasures of China's urban-rural spatial integrated balanced development. It points out that the healthy development of socio-economy is the external environment of realizing urban-rural spatial integration; the urban-rural coordinated planning is the prerequisite of realizing urban-rural spatial integration; fulfilling the governmental function is the key to realizing urban-rural spatial integration; promoting agricultural industrialization is the approach to realizing urban-rural spatial integration; perfecting social security system is the basis of realizing urban-rural spatial integration.


Adipose cell size and the glucose and insulin response to an oral glucose load have been studied in 26 obese children. Adipose cells were found to be enlarged, and hyperinsulinaemia was demonstrated both in the fasting state and also after oral glucose. The degree of hyperinsulinaemia could not be predicted by adipose cell size. In 14 children studies were repeated after a period of weight loss. A marked fall in fasting serum insulin occurred in all children over the first week of treatment. A reduction in adipose cell size was demonstrated over a longer period, but there was no change in the total number of adipose cells. In 7 children who were still losing weight when a second glucose tolerance test was performed, insulin levels after oral glucose were reduced, but there was no reduction in insulin levels in 7 children studied after they had stopped losing weight. The reduction in body fat and adipose cell size in these two groups of children was no different. Thus it was not possible to predict the fall in insulin levels from changes in body composition or adipose cell size. These data do not support the hypothesis of a direct causal relation between the increase in adipose cell size and the hyperinsulinaemia of obesity.


Sewage sludge ashes contain high phosphorus (P) mass fractions and can be used as raw material for P-fertilizers. We developed a thermochemical treatment at 900-1000 °C, known as AshDec process. The phosphorus compounds in the ash react with alkali additives (e.g. Na2SO4, K2SO4) to highly plant available calcium alkali phosphates. We investigate the system CaNaPO4-CaKPO4 (e.g. thermodynamic data) and phase reaction mechanisms as well as the optimization of additive input and process parameters for a later use of the treated ashes as P-fertilizers.


: Alterations which occur during ischemia are reviewed. They modify the metabolic status in such a way they prepare the cell to an anomalous response to reoxygenation. The consequence of this disturbance is the generation of oxygen free radicals through several mechanisms, including the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, the arachidonic acid cascade, the activation of xanthine oxidase, activation of phagocytes, iron mobilization, etc. Reduced glutathione is exhausted, proteins are inactivated. Lipid peroxidation induces membrane breakdown and cellular death.


Natural gas sweetening is required to remove the acid gas CO2 to meet gas grid specifications. Membrane technology has a great potential in this application compared to the state-of-the-art amine absorption technology. Carbon membranes are of particular interest due to their high CO2/CH4 selectivity of over 100. In order to document the advantages of carbon membranes for natural gas (NG) sweetening, HYSYS simulation and cost evaluation were conducted in this work. A two-stage carbon membrane process with recycling in the second stage was found to be technically feasible to achieve >98% CH4 with <2% CH4 loss. The specific natural gas processing cost of 1.122 × 10−2 $/m3 sweet NG was estimated at a feed pressure of 90 bar, which was significantly dependent on the capital-related cost. Future work on improving carbon membrane performance is required to increase the competitiveness of carbon membranes for natural gas sweetening.


The Lenheiros River, a water course about 1,7 miles long is strongly anthropized and located in Santos-SP. It was studied from July 2011 to February 2012, aiming to characterize its ecological situation and to provide an action on Environmental Education to a public school students group, that lives and works in the vicinity of the study site. The results of water quality showed high concentrations of toxic ammonia, low concentration of oxygen and acid pH showing signs of a domestic sewage-contaminated environment. It was detected a great awareness of the participating students, who followed all the stages of the process of Environmental Education, while those who did not participate in field activities brought benefits, relatively less noticeable for the dissemination of the concept of preservation. Key words: Environmental education, Sustainability, Agenda 21, Environment.


An investigation was undertaken to determine the relationships which exist for adult college students between demographic and behavioral variables available for prediction and a measure of scholastic performance. Extensive review of theoretical and research literature suggested the need for detailed understanding of these relationships in light of changing demands for college admissions. The subjects were 186 adult students enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro during the fall semester of 1973. They had been admitted to coursework through a special admissions process which involved a pre-entry interview with a continuing education counselor. Data were collected from application and registration records as well as interview notes. Ten categorical descriptive variables and seven continuous interval performance measures were viewed as independent or predictor variables. The criterion measure of academic performance was the traditional grade point average computed at the close of the term. Statistical analyses applied to the variables included chi square tests for frequency variations from chance, analyses of variance (simple and two-factor designs), Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, multiple regression and discriminant analysis techniques.


This article provides an overview of the most important reforms, their background, and corresponding changes in Estonian agriculture during the transition period from 1988-2008. The past two decades have been divided into three sub-periods to outline differences in dynamics and the direction of changes in agriculture. From 19881995, the main reforms were implemented and agricultural production decreased rapidly. From 1995-2001, the decline stabilised and nonviable farms exited the sector. From 2001 onwards, the positive effects of the EU pre-accession period and EU membership can be observed.


Giving provable guarantees for learning neural networks is a core challenge of machine learning theory. Most prior work gives parameter recovery guarantees for one hidden layer networks, however, the networks used in practice have multiple non-linear layers. In this work, we show how we can strengthen such results to deeper networks -- we address the problem of uncovering the lowest layer in a deep neural network under the assumption that the lowest layer uses a high threshold before applying the activation, the upper network can be modeled as a well-behaved polynomial and the input distribution is Gaussian.


The visco-elastic mechanism of particles reinforced composites has been investigated through revised Eshelby equivalent inclusion theory. A visco-elastic model is applied. Furthermore, by introducing Heaviside step function and Laplace transform, the creep constitutional equation related to strain rate effect is achieved. Finally, by equivalent inclusion theory, introducing secant modulus, the material moduli with time and volume fraction concerning Glass/ED6 particles reinforced materials have been given. The results show that the visco-elastic property of composite material is mainly determined by the visco-elastic behavior of the matrix, which meet experiment results well. It can be concluded from the results that there exits close relationship between the inclusion shape, volume fraction and loading path.